Iran and North Korea ARE open to tourists! Here are the world's most intriguing political tours you can go on right now (but be sure to book travel insurance)

Seven years ago Balkans reporter Nicholas Wood picked up a hitch-hiker in Croatia on his way down to Kosovo to cover a story there.

Instead of getting off in Zagreb, the traveler chose to stay with Wood for the next three days following him around as he reported on the country’s move to independence.

The road trip gave birth to an idea that is now Wood’s full time occupation - political tourism. He quit his job in 2008 and started work on this novel company, convinced that many travelers had grown tired of brochures full of beaches and exclusive hotels, and wanted a more realistic experience.

His company now takes people to countries in the news all around the world including North Korea, Russia and China.

Iranian insight: The former US Embassy in Tehran, which now features mural like this, is an eye-opener

Here’s his pick of political destinations for next year, and how you might go about seeing them. Some are closer to home than you might expect...

Russia

Vladimir Putin is demonised in the west, but his popularity is surging out home. A food market in Moscow’s suburbs is as good a place as any to figure out why. Here a mix Russians, former refugees from the Caucasus and Moldova, can remember the conflicts and hyperinflation of the 1990s.

Divided opinion: While some in the west see Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a villain, many in his country think differently

Putin’s strong hand they say has brought about stability and restored a pride not seen since Soviet times. But on a recent trip we had a reminder that the noose on public debate is tightening. An appointment at the Russia’s parliament, the Duma, was cancelled at short notice because we had failed the vetting process. We met instead with the MPs in a nearby café.

South Africa

Two hours drive north of Durban, beyond the valley of a 1000 hills, you can find Nkandla and two contrasting sides of South Africa. The area is the rural setting of President Jacob Zuma’s opulent complex that cost South African tax payers £13.7 million, which includes a cattle kraal and private tuck shop for one of his wives.

You can’t see much beyond the security guards and fenced off enclosure, but in nearby villages unemployment is over 50 per cent, two thirds lack electricity, and health services are rudimentary. It’s a damning indictment of the corruption associated with the ANC’s rule.

Elsewhere things are better notably in townships where basic services have improved. One tip: don’t get too close to the gates at Nkandla. We did a U-turn there and got detained for 30 minutes by the president’s security detail.

Scotland

With the UK possibly on the verge of its biggest constitutional change in 300 years, Scotland surely has to be on this list.

The break up of the UK is a prospect that many of us can’t envisage. How did we come to this point?

Fascinating time: The impending Scottish independence vote puts Scotland - and the UK - at an intriguing place in its history

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Edinburgh’s parliament is easy to visit and where devolution has obviously helped boost the nationalist cause. But head to Glasgow where the decline in industry has left many seeking a new identity. Here you can see how the SNP has made huge inroads on what was until very recently a bastion of Labour support.

You could try following the SNP’s canvassers in Pollokshields where they are courting the Asian vote. Whatever the results of September’s referendum, Scotland is changing.

Ukraine

As
Vladimir Putin has pulled back from launching a full scale invasion
here, I think it is time tourists returned at least capital Kiev. You’ll
find a warm welcome in some rather empty hotels.

Maidan
Square is still encamped with protestors that ousted President Viktor
Yanukovich. But in order to understand what prompted the biggest upset
in East-West relations since the end of the cold war, head to
Yanukovich’s residence just outside the city.

Ukrainians
now tour the complex outraged by the gilt furnishings, shooting
gallery, indoor bowling alley, yachts, golf school and riding school.
Corruption and a moribund economy are the roots of all Ukrainians
complaints be they in Donetsk or Kiev.

China

China’s rapid economic growth has been breathtaking. Head to Chongqing in Eastern China to see how the city expanded massively under Bo Xi Lai, the high ranking member of the Communist party who was jailed last year on corruption charges.

Speeding ahead: Seeing places such as Chongqing is the only way to understand the rapid growth in China

You’ll get a taste of Chinese politics and see how that construction has continued unabated. Why does it matter? It is a bubble that could soon burst.

China’s efforts to keep its economy afloat during the financial crisis have created a mountain of internal debt. If it collapses the ramifications will be global and possibly more dramatic than in 2007 in the west.

Iran

The Islamic Republic is opening up to foreign tourists, and simultaneously trying to down play its anti-western image.

If you are there in February or early November head to the former American embassy or 'den of spies' which then opens as a museum housing state of the art 1970s US eavesdropping equipment.

It is also a base of the revolutionary Basij militia. But it is the reaction of ordinary Iranians to the museum that is most informative. Many are now slightly embarrassed by the site and the death to American mantra imprinted on its doormats.

North Korea

It routinely threatens its southern neighbour and the United States with a nuclear strike yet bizarrely the world’s isolated state is open to tourists. The question that most people ask is how is it possible for such a state to exist 25 years after the collapse of the Berlin wall (and while its main ally has proven such a good centre for capitalism)?

Standing among the cheering crowds at a military parade perhaps, or visiting a state-run farm, you can begin understand how such a system might exist, and how people might believe in it.

Mystery to most: Despite regular nuclear threats to South Korea and the US, North Korea is open to tourists - you can witness huge-scale military parades or visit state-run farms such as this

It is a chilling realisation (and backed by Chinese subsidies) that it works quite smoothly with every aspect of everyone’s lives regimented and accounted for.

If you don’t want to go there and find out just jump on a train to New Malden in South London. It is home to the largest community of North Koreans in Europe, and they’ll happily share their thoughts about home.

Turkey

Turkey is currently the scene of an almighty struggle between religious strongman and prime minister Tayep Recep Erdogan and a more secular opposition.

Head to Ataturk’s mausoleum, Anitkabir, the shine to the founder of modern Turkey and a man who still has god-like status. Erdogan is accused of rolling back many of Atuturk’s more secular reforms.

Pivotal: Ataturk¿s mausoleum, Anitkabir, is a shine to modern Turkey's founder - though the current leadership is accused of rolling back his more secular reforms

Then head to Istanbul’s Taksim square where you find groups that are protesting against what they see as a corrupt government (avoid it though if there are large protests).

Nicholas Wood worked for the New York Times in the Balkans before setting up Political Tours, the world’s only travel company that specializes in news and current affairs. Their tours are led by journalists, political analysts and diplomats. For more see www.politicaltours.com.